Creative Ideas for Quality Time with Family
26 Apr 2017
Coming soon on May 15 is the International Day of Families! As a tribute to our beloved parents and siblings, I wanted to share some stories about our family! Since we were young, a lot of our memories were doing creative stuff! Ever since I could remember, we were drawing and crafting together and it was a lot of fun!
People tell me that it's hard to work with your family. Sure it has its challenges - but I think it's got much more benefits than difficulties. It's a blessing that our family can work together but I also think that the fact that we put God at the center makes all the difference.
With that said, I think sharing some of what we did as kids might give you ideas on how your family can bond even more! These activities are really simple, enjoyable and don't cost much! You can also do them with different ages of your kids (or siblings) and family members with varying ages can do this all together!
The first tip isn't creative at all but I just couldn't pass up the chance to share a childhood story about it. Plus, it's really too important not to put on this list.
One to One Time
King Kong was such a popular movie when I was a kid. I wanted to go so very much but somehow none of my siblings wanted to go. That was such a blessing in disguise because it made the way for one to one time with my dad.
My dad volunteered to take me to the movies! I was so happy! He even brought me to the carnival afterwards! He let me ride the bump car and just made me feel so special!
Time with only 1 member of your family is very important! Moms and dads, I'm talking to you! Do this when your children are very young and make a habit of it. When they become teenagers, you'll reap the benefit from the time you invested with them. They won't be distant and hard to talk to because your together time has made your relationship stronger.
Now, here's the creative part. My dad didn't just take me to the movies. He would draw Dick Tracy and WW2 bomber planes and I would try to guess who and what he was drawing. Other times, we would spend time on his reel-to-reel player belting out Johnny Mathis tunes. He would let me play with his vintage cars and office supplies. That's time well spent!
You Draw Me and I Draw You
No this is not a cowboy movie. We are literally doing portraits of each other! All of us sit down and pick someone to draw. Each has to draw a different person. Given a reasonable time, you will have some pretty serious material for your living room wall!
During Easter we would draw on Easter eggs! We would dye the eggs in food coloring and decorate in different ways. We would then hide them for the guests. That was such a fun, memorable time together! We would photograph and take videos of the eggs like an animated film. The eggs were so pretty, they were hard to eat!
Needless to say, this will develop everyone's illustration skills. You can level up and have a different medium (like watercolor?) for another time.
You can also have a different subject for each time. You can go outdoors and paint the same tree. You can draw still life. Draw everything under God's green earth!
What's this for?
This is the game where you need just plain imagination. My siblings and I play this when we are really bored. To do this activity, you need to gather at least 5 objects that are light enough to carry. Then, everyone has to stand in a circle. First person starts by getting one of the objects and using it in an unusual manner. For example, an open umbrella becomes a bowl for soup.... a can becomes a telephone, a picture frame becomes an iPad. Stuff like that. They shouldn't take more than 10 seconds to think of something.
Then they pass it to the next person, and the next and then next. Game is up for someone if they can't think of anything. They're out! Then the next object is passed.
Snake!
One fine day, my brother came home with a rubber snake. It was an odd thing to have but soon we were taking pictures of us with the snake. It was a like an audition for a B-movie - who could have the most realistic reaction? After this game, the pictures can also be used for blackmail (just kidding).
This is creative game in the sense that, you are expressing emotion and translating it into an image. It's a nice addition to your photo album! We even played this in a restaurant (just not with a snake). Everyone then picks their favorite snapshot.
You can do a variation of this on the beach. We went to the beach once and then someone made a head in the sand that was as big as a sofa. It had an open mouth and we each took turns acting as if we came from the mouth! My mom pulling me out was a good one... but we don't exactly want you to see it *wink*.
Dance the Day Away
Because we don't like throwing things away, this is what happened. There happened to be a large cardboard piece that was as almost as big as a window. I forget who did it, but they punched a plethora of holes on it so that the sun's rays made a pretty effect on the light.
Cover up the window and you have some ambience for a party! Well, it's just a chance to dance!
Paper Folds
You can do this while waiting in the doctor's office or maybe when you're waiting for your order at a restaurant.
All you need is paper and a pen. Cut the paper into a long strip of around the size of 3 x 12 inches. Fold the paper in sections of 3 x 3 inches like an accordion. Now the first person draws the head in the center. The head can be a cat's or a dog's or a clown's etc. Make it fun!
Make sure the neckline goes past the fold so the next person knows where to start drawing.
Pass to the next person and they shouldn't look at the previous person's drawing. All they should see are 2 little lines showing where the connection of the neck is to the head. 2nd person should draw the chest and arms up to the waist.
They should draw a little past the waist so the next person knows where to start the waist.
So the next person will draw the waist up to the knees. They should make a guideline for where the legs are.
At the end, the paper is unfolded! What's it look like? Show us! Give us a link to your image in the comments section below!
Sculpt-Time
Nope! This is not scalp but sculpt! Get everyone together for a time of shaping and kneading and forming. We used to do this a lot as a family. We would make the figurine originals and my mom would make the mold.
We would shape objects that were precious to us. My sister made a whole family set with her own family as the inspiration and names the figurines after her family members!
Make Your Own Toys
My sister Peggy made me a girl paper doll and I named her Pamela! My brother Robert made me a boy paper doll and I named him Patrick (which is incidentally my husband's name haha). Pamela and Patrick are both still in very good shape!
My sisters Patsy and Meldy made clothes for my Barbie Doll! I guess everyone pitched in to make sure I had a fun childhood! :D
So we are offering you a FREEBIE DOWNLOADABLE PAPER DOLL so you can make a toy for the kids in your life!
This doll comes with clothes and all so go and do something crafty with your family today!
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We did a lot of other family activities together like games night (card games), cooking our favorite celebration salad, biking, traveling, eating, walking etc. etc.
We also made sure to pray together before meals and sometimes do a Lord's day celebration on Saturday night! These times together are so wonderful and build up our family through the years.
What does your family do together? Share some tips with our readers in the comments section below!
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